Genealogy Category
Cher Ami: A Pigeon and a Poet
Posted on August 4, 2021 1 Comment
An article written by Frank Blazich and first printed on the National Museum of American History’s Blog and later reprinted in the Smithsonian Magazine prompted this post. The story was about using DNA to determine the gender of the famous Pigeon “Cher Ami” who resides at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. As noted Cher Ami […]
Evidence Can’t Be Trusted Either: The Case of Changing Attributes
Posted on July 26, 2021 2 Comments
I suppose I delight– just a bit– in saying that, as a sometimes contrarian genealogist or family historian, I do enjoy pointing out the flaws in Professionals commendable but often flawed insistence on “facts” and their proper citation. Yesterday I gave myself a task—I decided to see how many of my recent ancestors that I […]
Knotted Strands: The Misattributed Heirloom
Posted on May 30, 2021 3 Comments
The one thing you learn in doing genealogy is that just like the old children’s game of telephone things get a bit muddled when passed from child to child or generation to generation. As I have written elsewhere there is usually some truth in the stories and legends passed down through families, even if they […]
Genealogy & Greed Don’t Mix
Posted on May 20, 2021 13 Comments
The genesis of this post goes way back to my early days in genealogy. Back in the days of Everton’s Genealogical Helper, a publication full of personal ads for genealogists looking to contact others with the hopes of making a genealogical connection and sharing information. Back then information exchange took time. We mailed off letters […]
The Inherited Object Revisited
Posted on March 25, 2021 11 Comments
“Stories are a kind of thing, too. Stories and objects share something, a patina. I thought I had this clear, two years ago before I started, but I am no longer sure how this works. Perhaps a patina is a process of rubbing back so that the essential is revealed, the way that a striated […]
Ask More Questions
Posted on March 24, 2021 2 Comments
Its been a very long time since I made a Blog Post and this is perhaps my first public one. I usually make posts a page. However this is too short to be a page and perhaps there is a value in a quick post. I recently received a phone call from a 100 year […]
Wheaton Wood 